Recession? NBC Stills Sells Out Record High Priced Super Bowl Ads

Despite what media members and government officials claim to be the worst economy since the Great Depression, NBC completely sold out -- at a record high price no less!!! -- its full complement of ads for Sunday's Super Bowl.

If the economy was really as bad as we're constantly hearing, given this somewhat low marquee matchup -- this isn't the Giants vs. the Patriots or the Cowboys vs. the Steelers -- wouldn't NBC have needed to reduce its fees to entice supposedly cash-strapped sponsors?

Not according to the Washington Post:

NBC announced it has sold all of its available ad spots for the network's Super Bowl telecast today. The network generated a record $206 million in advertising revenue for the game telecast and $261 million for the entire day, NBC announced.

NBC sold 69 ad spots for the game telecast, according to a network spokesman. Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, had said at a news briefing earlier in the week that four ad spots remained unsold at that point.

Ebersol said then he hoped the remaining ad spots would be sold, but he vowed NBC would not offer potential advertisers a last-minute discount on the record $3 million that the network was receiving for a 30-second ad spot during the game telecast.

Is this REALLY a Depression if companies are willing to spend $3 million for 30 seconds?